USA > Georgia > Fulton County > Atlanta > History of Atlanta, Georgia : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
But great as has been the extent of his operations in this regular line of business, it represents but feebly the capabilities and resources of Colonel Adair. He has been at the head and front of all the great enterprises which have made Atlanta the most thriving and progressive of Southern cities. His time and his energies have been freely given to the advancement of every project that promised good to the city, or would promote the material welfare of the South, and help solve all the perplexing problems left after the red heel of war. He saw the important part railroad communications were to play in the development of the city, and by personal advocacy and active can- vass here and elsewhere, when many doubted and some opposed, he worked with tireless energy for the building of all the roads now running into Atlanta. With equal zeal and energy he labored for other public enterprises, that have fixed the permanent prosperity of the city, and have added to the comfort and happiness of the people ..
Wherever his active energies have been directed he has been a potent factor for good. He was the promoter of the building of the Atlanta street railway in 1870. He was vice-president and superintendent of this enterprise, associ- ated with Richard Peters, one of the principal owners. He had invested in
.
4
HISTORY OF ATLANTA.
this road all of his available fortune and considerable borrowed capital. The financial panic of 1873, followed by the resumption of specie payment in 1878, and a decline of all securities caused widespread financial distress in the South, and in the general disaster Colonel Adair was forced to make an assignment of all his property to his creditors. This he did to their entire satisfaction. With undaunted spirit he concentrated all his energies, and with the support of his friends and the unlimited confidence of the public in his integrity, he again comnienced at the bottom, and by close attention to business, was soon placed upon a sound financial standing, and by the almost uniform success of his busi- ness ventures since, has accumulated a handsome competency.
Among the numerous business projects with which Colonel Adair has been prominently identified may be named the Atlanta Cotton Factory, of which he was one of the original promoters. He was also one of the directors of the Atlanta Cotton Exposition, director and vice-president of the Kimball House Construction Company, president of the Georgia Western, now Georgia Pa- cific Railroad, director of the Piedmont Fair, and is at present president of the Tallapoosa Land and Mining Company. He has also taken a warm interest in educational matters, and was one of the promoters, and now a director of Mrs. Ballard's Female Seminary.
In politics, since the downfall of the Whig party, Colonel Adair has been a Democrat. He has never been a seeker after political honors, but takes a natural interest in State and national affairs. He was a member of the Con- stitutional Convention of 1865, and in the management of local affairs has been a city councilman, a member of the board of water commissioners, and of the board of county commissioners of roads and revenues.
So much for a merely bare outline of the career of Colonel Adair, which leaves wholly untouched his striking personality, his method of thought and and work, his inner relations and his social life. Much of this cannot be ade- quately described, but something may be said that will give a degree of per- sonal acquaintance with one who, for more than thirty years has woven an in- fluence for good in the busy life around him.
It is needless to say that he is a tireless worker, for in his earnest, ceaseless activity, is chiefly to be found the secret of his success. Originally gifted with the strong sense and clear foresight, which have ever characterized the Irish descendants, his business career has been of logical growth. He possesses re- markable executive ability, and his mind is so adjusted as to be at once con- centrated and broad in view.
With a capacity for details constantly exercised, he never loses sight of the relations ot facts, the influence of collateral conditions, or of the necessary fore- cast of business events. Far-sighted, quick in discernment, and sound in business judgment, he is probably more often consulted for advice on every conceivable enterprise than any other man in Atlanta; and when public
5
BIOGRAPHICAL.
projects are contemplated, this is surely the fact. No man more cheerfully responds to this drain upon his time and energies, or takes a more unselfish in- terest in the success of his friends. It is a pleasure to him to see others share in any venture in which his clear vision has seen the certainty of success. He , is a ready and fluent speaker, quick at repartee, has an easy command of lan- guage, and the power to express his ideas, clearly, concisely and forcibly on any subject upon all occasions.
No citizen of Atlanta is so often called upon for the expression of his views at public gatherings, and his remarks, always apt and pointed, are listened to with attention. He is a natural wit, and his quickness of repartee in conversa- tions and in public addresses has made him widely known.
As a writer he is terse, pointed and direct; he has an analytical mind, . and his conclusions are the result of careful, logical reasonings. He is thus naturally a man of positive, well-grounded convictions, and is open and can- did in his avowal of them. His position on any question of public policy, social, or moral movement, is never one of hesitancy or doubt. He is a firm believer in the Christian religion, and for many years has been a member of the Trinity M. E. Church, and largely contributed to the building of the pres- ent church edifice, as well as to the maintenance of various other Christian denominations. He is without bigotry or prejudice in his religious views, and has due respect for the convictions of others, and the utmost veneration for all agencies which tend to make men lead better and purer lives. His busi- ness career, his private and public life are above reproach, and his honesty is of a character that needs no profession, but makes itself felt upon all with whom he comes in contact. He has a heartiness of disposition, a genuine love of humor and pleasure, and a social side which leads him to seek and take delight in human association. His extensive knowledge of men, the rebuffs of fortune and the asperities of life have not soured his nature, but have broad- ened his views and sympathies, and made more enthusiastic his faith in finding some good in every one. He reasons, since " God is a sun," there ought to be sunlight in the lives of His covenant children. In a cloister he would be stifled, but out in the busy world he lives happily, because he finds much that is good and has no fear of the bad. He is the broadest and most cheerful of optimists. His nature is mirthful, and he believes in getting and giving good as he goes along. His charity is not bounded by creed or sect, but is extended to the alleviation of suffering and distress wherever found For his friends and inti- mates he has a frank, warm and loyal attachment-as warnily and loyally re- ciprocated. Hale, hearty and well-preserved, the cares and anxieties of busi- ness life are yet lightly borne, and he is as full of energy as when in the flower of his manhood.
Such in brief arc some of the most marked characteristics of Colonel Adair, who, by his progressiveness and striking personality, has been for many years
1
6
HISTORY OF ATLANTA.
one of the best known and most popular private citizens of Georgia. He has been with Atlanta from struggling youth to stalwart manhood, and during all these years the city has had no more sincere friend, and that he occupies a position of honor.and influence is but the natural result of a life of honorable toil under the incentive of high motives and worthy ambitions.
Colonel Adair's domestic life has been singularly congenial and happy. He was married in 1854 to Mary Jane Perry, a daughter of Judge Josiah Perry, a cousin of the famous naval officer, Commodore Perry. They have had four sons and three daughters. The sons, in order of birth, are Robin, Jack, For- rest and George, all of whom are connected with their father's business. Their oldest daughter is the wife of G. A. Howell, of Atlanta, and the others, Sallie and Annie, are living at home.
Colonel Adair's residence for the last twenty years has been in West End, where he owns several acres of land, most of which is now in the city limits. Here he has a pleasant home in one of the most desirable locations in the city, where he delights to entertain his friends in a whole-souled, generous way, typical of true Southern hospitality.
A LEXANDER, DR. J. F. No medical history of Atlanta would be com- plete that failed to give prominent and worthy mention of the labor of Dr. James Franklin Alexander, who, for nearly forty years, has led a life of eminent usefulness in his profession, such as has secured for him the grateful esteem of this community. He was born in Greenville, South Carolina, May 28, 1824, and is a son of Thomas W. and Martha (Maker) Alexander, both of whom were born in South Carolina. His father was a physician, and for seve- ral years practiced his profession in Greenville, but in 1830 removed to Law- renceville, Guinnette county, where he was engaged in professional work until his death in 1847. His wife died at an advanced age in 1870.
Dr. Alexander, the subject of this sketch, received his preliminary educa- tion at the Manual Labor Institute at Lawrenceville, and at Midway, near Mill- edgeville. He began the study of medicine with Dr. J. M. Gordon, of Law- renceville, and in 1847 entered the Augusta Medical Institute, from which in- stitution he graduated in 1849. Immediately after graduation he located in Atlanta, where, with the exception of a short period of service during the war as a military surgeon, he has continuously followed his professional calling. At the time of his arrival in Atlanta a smallpox epidemic was prevailing, which caused the greatest consternation. Several had died from the effects of the malady, and many were stricken with the disease. The medical skill of the un- fortunate community seemed unable to cope with the plague. Young Dr. Al- exander, full of ambition and youthful enthusiasm, undertook the apparently hopeless task of saving those stricken with the disease. The first three persons he attended all recovered, and from that time, he found his time and hands
7
BIOGRAPHICAL.
fully occupied. So successful was he in his treatment of this disease, that his reputation as a skilled physician became firmly established, and during the first few years of his residence in Atlanta, no physician ever worked harder, or met with more gratifying success.
May 1, 1861, he was made surgeon of the Seventh Confederate Georgia Regiment, and served in that capacity until January, 1862, when he returned to Atlanta, and during the remainder of the war acted as hospital surgeon. He is a member of the State and American Medical Association, but the de- mands of his profession have not permitted active participation in the affairs of these organizations.
He was married in 1855 to Georgia Orme, daughter of Richard Orme, of Milledgeville, Ga. One child, a daughter, the wife of J. P. Stevens, of Atlanta, was born to them. Mrs. Alexander died in 1876, and in 1878 the doctor mar- ried Miss Ada Reynolds, daughter of Permedas Reynolds, of Covington, Geor- gia. They have had two children, a son and a daughter.
To his profession Dr. Alexander has given himself with undeviating attention. He has not allowed other lines of labor, or any of the allurements of public or political life, to come between him and it. He has practiced in all the lines of the profession, making no specialty of any kind his choice. He has cultivated a family practice, making office work of secondary consideration. He has his hands full; has been very busy all his life, and is yet engaged every moment of his time, although of an age that might be made an excuse for rest and ease. Still he is one of the few men who do not grow old. With a strong body, a mind as keen and active as ever, a thorough knowledge of his profession, he stands among the leading medical men of Atlanta, and has a reputation that has been nobly earned. His professional life commenced almost with the settle- ment of Atlanta, and its history in many respects is his history. Generations have been born under his eye and his professional attentions, and the same generations have passed away, receiving to the latest moments of life the best treatment that his large experience and strong active intellect could give them. It would be almost impossible to faithfully depict the scenes, hardships and toil through which Dr. Alexander passed in the earlier years of his practice. He never drew back, never shirked or evaded, but met the duties, toils and pri- vations of his position with a manly energy which overcame all obstacles. He has ever been ready to render assistance whenever called upon. None, however poor, have been turned away, and the lives of few physicians have been more full of disinterested labors and active benevolence. Personally he is of a pleas- ant, genial disposition, and during the long years of his identification with At- lanta, has borne a reputation of unsullied honor and honesty.
B ROWN, SENATOR JOSEPH E., was born in Pickens district, South Car- olina, on the 15th of April, 1821. Descended from sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestors, on the fraternal side, the subject of this sketch inherited a full share
8
HISTORY OF ATLANTA.
of the rugged virtues for which his progenitors and their countrymen have always been noted.
In the old world the Browns were an aggressive family. They adhered to the fortunes of William and Mary in times that tried men's souls, bearing them- selves like true patriots and brave soldiers. A picturesque story might be made of their heroic trials and sufferings in the stirring epoch previous to their departure from their native land, but these matters are too remote to be con- sidered here.
Mackey Brown, the father of the senator and railway magnate, went through the War of 1812, and in Tennessee married Sally Rice, a young lady of English descent. The young couple moved to Pickens district, South Car- olina, where in the course of years eleven children came to gladden their lives, the eldest being Joseph. Before Joseph reached the years of manhood the family moved to Union county, Georgia, settling near the Gaddeston Valley. Like most of the farmer boys of those days whose parents were in moderate circumstances, Joseph enjoyed few educational advantages. Until he was nine- teen he did the hardest kind of farm work, going to school only at rare inter- vals. The youth made the most of his rude apprenticeship. He learned the frugal economy of rural life, strengthened his muscles, mastered the rudiments. of an English education and grew up one of the brightest, most industrious, temperate and moral young men in all that region.
He was not without ambition. At this period of his life, when he drove his bull, now a famous figure in history, to Dahlonega, the nearest market town, where he sold vegetables, he was quietly maturing his plans for the future. Finally his parents equipped him with a rustic outfit and a yoke of steers and sent him to the Calhoun Academy, in Anderson county, S. C. The steers went for board. The schooling was charged to the youth's account. A college education was not to be thought of under the circumstances, and for some years after young Brown's return to Georgia he taught school at Canton. After discharging every penny of the liability incurred for his edu- cation he studied law, and in 1845 was admitted to the bar, making his maiden speech with distinguished success at that term of the court. But the young lawyer was not satisfied with his equipment. With the assistance of his de- voted friend, Dr. John W. Lewis, he was enabled to pass a term at the Yale Law School. Without waiting for his diploma, but leaving it to be sent to him, he hastened home in 1846 to be ready for the fall business in the courts.
Slowly but surely Brown made his way. The first year he earned $1,200, and made a steady increase each year. He made no pretentions to genius, but he knew that judgment, economy and hard labor would carry him a long way and gradually he forced ahead. His investments all turned out well. He bouglit a piece of land for $450, and afterwards a copper mine thereon netted him $25,000, which he straightway invested in good farming land, a step
9
BIOGRAPHICAL.
which was in reality the beginning of his large fortune. When he married, in 1847, Miss Elisabeth Gresham, the daughter of the Rev. Joseph Gresham, a Baptist minister of South Carolina, he completed the preliminaries most essen- tial to his happiness and success in life. This estimable lady has lived to share the distinction of her husband, and to watch over the large family whose mem- bers have for years been conspicuous in social, professional and business circles.
In 1849 Mr. Brown was elected to the State Senate, serving in a legislature composed of such notables as Andrew J. Miller, David J. Bailey, A. H. Kenan, WV. T. Wofford, Thomas C. Howard, Harrison Riley, Charles J. Jenkins, Lin- ton Stephens, and Lucius J. Gartrell. He was a new man, but his pluck, au- dacity and ability soon made him the leader of the Democrats. In 1855 he was elected judge of his circuit over David Irwin. On the bench his clear head, legal knowledge and nerve soon made him famous. In 1857 he was unexpectedly nominated for governor by the Democratic convention. He received the news while tying wheat in a field near Canton, and accepted the new and unlooked for responsibility with his usual imperturbability. In the campaign that followed he was elected over the Hon. Benjamin H. Hill, the candidate of the American party, by a large majority. Governor Brown was renominated and re-elected in 1859, in 1861, and again in 1863, a brilliant succession of gubernatorial triumphs entirely unprecedented in Georgia.
Governor Brown's several terms of office covered the most critical period in the history of the commonwealth, from its foundation down to the present time. His warlike preparations and prompt measures before the secession of the State, his determined stand for State rights, his active solicitude for the soldiers in the field, his differences with President Davis, have been so widely discussed that they need not now be touched upon. The collapse of the Con- federacy brought Governor Brown's fourth term to an abrupt close. He was arrested, carried to Washington and confined in a military prison. An inter- view with President Johnson led to his release in a few days and he was al- lowed to return home on parole. Accepting the situations in good faith he went to work in earnest to promote the speedy habilitation of his State and her people. During the reconstruction era his course was misunderstood, and the mistaken resentment of his fellow citizens for a long time was directed against him, but the subsequent turn of affairs vindicated his wisdom, patriot- ism and the purity of his motives. Under Governor Bullock, Governor Brown was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the term of twelve years, a position in which he won golden opinions from friends and foes, until his resignation in 1870 to accept the presidency of the company that had leased the Western and Atlantic Railroad for the term of twenty years.
At this point begins the career of Governor Brown as a railroad man. Ile was by no means a novice in this line of business. During his four guberna- torial terms his duties as executive rendered it necessary for him to familiarize
IO
HISTORY OF ATLANTA.
himself with all the details of the management of the Western and Atlantic, as it was the property of the State, and required a large share of his attention. So well did he succeed in his plans for the improvement of the road's status, that he increased the State's receipts from that source from $43,000 to $400,- 000 in a single year With this experience Governor Brown accepted the presidency tendered him by the lessees of the road, with the confident expec- tation of paying the $300,000 annual rental, and having a large margin of profit left for the company. In this expectation he was not disappointed. The line of the road runs from Atlanta to Chattanooga, a distance of one hun- dred and thirty-eight miles. It was completed in 1850 and has the support of a thickly populated and highly productive section. The new president found that the road bed and rolling stock needed extensive repairs and addi- tions, and steps were taken from the outset to place this great line of travel and traffic in a condition worthy of its value and importance. From time to time vast expenditures have been made for new engines, handsome cars and steel rails, until by degrees the road has been brought to a point of excellence that will challenge comparison with anything of the kind north and west.
The efforts of the Louisville and Nashville combinations a few years ago to obtain the entire control of the Western and Atlantic will be recollected as one of the most brilliant schemes in Southern railroad annals. The Louisville and Nashville joined hands with the powerful Central system of Georgia. Then it purchased a majority interest in the lease of the Western and Atlantic, but the full fruition of its purpose was baffled by the far-seeing judgment of President Brown, whose forethought liad caused a provision to be inserted in the lease requiring the control to be kept in the hands of the original lessees, and mak- ing the forfeiture of the lease the penalty of discrimination in rates. Thus this comparatively short line of railway owned by the State of Georgia has con- tinued under the absolute control of President Brown and his original associ- ates, without being seriously affected by the intrigues and combinations of immense systems and grasping monopolies. The management has been from first to last progressive and liberal. The wise policy of building up local in- terests has been constantly kept in view. During recent years the president's son, Mr. Joseph M. Brown, has filled the post of general freight and passenger agent, and his efforts to improve and popularize the line have made the " Ken - nesaw Route," as it is known by the traveling public, a household phrase all over the country.
But President Brown has matters of vast importance besides railway affairs to claim his attention. His appointment in 1880 by Governor Colquit to fill the unexpired term of General Gordon in the Federal Senate was endorsed by the election of the legislature, and in 1884 he was re-elected. The senator's course is a part of the history of the day. His success in securing appropria- tions for Southern harbors and rivers, his speeches on the Mexican Pension
II
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Bill, against Mahone, and on the Mormon question make up a splendid record. The senator also devotes some of his time to the duties devolving upon him as president of the Dade Coal Company, president of the Walker Iron and Coal Company, president of the Southern Railway and Steamship Association, and to his large private business interest. In the midst of this busy life, he has continued for many years one of the most zealous workers in the Baptist Church. He finds time to devote to the educational interest of the people, and all his life has been a liberal giver, exercising his charities judiciously, and in a quiet way.
At the age of sixty-four Senator Brown retains all his faculties in the superb plentitude of their powers. His elastic constitution enables him to bear what would fatigue a much younger man, and whether at his desk in the Senate, or his office in Atlanta, or inspecting the road in his private car, he is always the same quiet, thoughtful, keenly observant personage, calmly survey- ing the situation through his kindly eyes with the air of a man who has all the world's time and a large share of its resources at his disposal. All his life he has made haste slowly. He has always planned wisely and executed promptly. A clearer headed man, a man more thoroughly practical does not live. The comprehensive sweep of his mind takes in, grasps and holds everything to which his attention is directed. His mental processes are quick, but they are not the flashes or intuitions of genius ; they are the evolutions of a logical and trained intellect No man was ever more master of himself, and this is one of the secrets of his mastery over others. His influence has been dominant in the affairs of Georgia longer than that of any statesman or popular leader, and bids fair to continue. Although a South Carolinian by birth, he is, in the best sense of the phrase, a typical Georgian, and all Georgians, whether they agree with or differ with him, are proud of him. He will go down in history as one of the greatest Southerners of his day and generation. 1
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.